This invention relates in general to the construction of dowels and, in particular, to a new and useful dowel construction which includes a plastic dowel having a neck portion and a wedge portion held to the neck portion by a plurality of bending strips which extend longitudinally between the neck and the wedge portion and which also includes straddling legs between the bending strips which have wedge surfaces which cooperate with wedge surfaces of the wedge portion to cause the outward deflection of the bending strips and which may be connected to the wedge portion so as to bend when the securing surface does not facilitate the outward deflection.